The rural parts of Maharashtra, however, are expected to witness the black out again on weekdays, as power demand is likely to shoot up again.

The power demand on Sunday dropped to 15,400megawatt (MW) from 17,800MW on Friday.(Picture for representation)

With the reduction in demand for power, owing to the drop in temperature and Sunday being a holiday, the government withdrew load shedding in the state on Sunday. The rural parts of Maharashtra, however, are expected to witness the black out again on weekdays, as the demand is likely to shoot up again.

The power demand on Sunday dropped to 15,400megawatt (MW) from 17,800MW on Friday. After taking permission from the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission’ to purchase the power through a short-term purchase agreement at higher rates, the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) managed to purchase 1,200 MW from the open market. This enabled the power company to bring down load shedding to zero on Sunday. On Saturday, the company had to initiate load shedding in heavy supply losses, majorly in rural areas, as the gap was 800MW.

“We have been purchasing 700MW through short-term purchase agreements. In addition to that, we have been given permission for 800MW more. We are hopeful that the demand will not peak to the level it was on Thursday and Friday. If the demand-supply gap does not reach over 2,000MW, as it was on Friday, we will be able to manage with load shedding in only a few rural areas,” said an official from MSEDCL.

The shortage of coal supply and the rise in temperature has led to the gap between supply and demand, forcing the government to initiate load shedding in parts of the state. Energy minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule has appealed to the people to use power judiciously.